Cause of library fire under investigation
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer

RED BANK - - All six borough fire companies, consisting of 35 volunteers, responded to a call of a small fire near the roof of the Eisner Memorial Library Sept. 5.

Borough Fire Chief Patrick McSorley, said on Sept. 6 that the fire was confined to a 2-foot-square area on the southwest corner where the roof meets the wall of the concrete portion of the West Front Street building.

"The building was unoccupied at the time and it does not look like anyone was working in that area on the day or night of the fire with reference to the construction of the building," said McSorley.

He said Sgt. Michael Frazee of the Red Bank Police Department called in the fire at 1:52 a.m. after he smelled smoke in the area and traced it back to the library.

"If it wasn't for his [Frazee's] actions, that library may have been worse off," said McSorley.

He continued that it took the firefighters 30 minutes to get the blaze under control and that the call had lasted about an hour.

The damage to the building was minor and only on the building's exterior, according to McSorley. The flashing that surrounds the small offset of the building was taken off and the wood underneath was burned, according to McSorley.

"The fire itself is extremely minimal," said McSorley. "It took us that long because we had to open up the flashing to get to the wood that was burning underneath."

Fire Marshal Stanley J. Sickels said in a press release that there was no damage to the interior of the building and that the cause of the fire is still under investigation.